fishingorwishing

Any ideas why crankshaft would bind up? timing belt off, cams spin normally.
crankshaft move's back and forth 20 degrees or so. Thouhgt timing was way off. I found if I slowly moved cams clockwise I could get crank to move all the way around to tdc. put belt back on crank still bound up. tried 3 times to no avail. could this be a valve issue or would this be an issue in the crank case?

fishingorwishing

Nobody has any ideas?ok does anybody know if the camshaft pulley bolts have left hand threads? I imagine it would say so in the haynes or alldata manuals. But that bolt seems to have a lot more torque than the 83 ft/lbs. the manual says. was thinking about trying heat thinking it has lock tite, but not sure if that would damage the seals?

hunter 4321

If every thing is in proper order with the lower end of your engine, the only thing that could be "binding up" the crank is something between the piston and your head(a valve maybe). Was your engine running properly before this? If so, check your timing belt job, it must not be on there right. I am not sure, I have not worked on a 3.4, but I know on a lot of engines if the timing not set correctly you WILL impact the pistons with the valves.

JumpMan

3.4 engines are not interference engines, so you can have timing off and be able to rotate crank, cams without binding up. cam bolts tend to stick on high mileage engines but they come off turning them counter clock wise, you will need a camshaft holding tool of some sort. Now for your crankshaft not turning, it can literally be an issue down in the crank, or most likely a valve. if you have shop air, remove spark plugs and shoot some air in the cylinders to see if you hear anything rattle

fishingorwishing

Thanks hunter and jumpman, been 2 months with no truck. so I guess I'm confused on what an interference engine means. I thought it meant there was no way the valves can hit the piston. At the same time I've read on here and another forum that if timing is way out it can cause valve damage. That is what it is acting like. If I slowly rotate cams and have someone rotate crank, the crank will work its way around. Hunter to answer you're question no the motor would not start before the crank binding up. I've had one mechanic come look at tit and he says its valve damage. Another mechanic said he swears this is a interference motor. I arrived at this point through diagnossing why the motor wouldn't start. It just seemed to happen all a sudden. Truck was running shut it off went to start it a few hours later would crank over but no gas or spark at the cylinders. I'm going to pull the valve covers and possibly the heads tonight if time allows. Would any one suggest heat or a air rattle gun to pull cam bolts? Also should cam bolts and knock pins be replaced after being removed?

hross14

dont use an impact on those cam bolts unless you have something to hold them steady----

I am not sure what is going on with your issues.......but the 3.4 is non-interference. IF your have to turn the cams to get the crank to turn then it sounds like

1. You sucked a valve
2. something is in your engine
3. Maybe the rod was about to go and is coming loose.

Other than that--there is not much left to "Bind" the crank

hross14

also--did you check the crank sensor....that little buddy sends the signal to the ecu to spark and etc.....

You are missing something important here that we arent being told....more detail?

OR--just pull the motor

fishingorwishing

ok well before this happened I heard a sound that sounded like a fan reving out of control when I would accelerate in first gear, along with a power loss. Did some research and thought it was the fan clutch was going to replace right before initial loss of spark and gas. Mechanic friend of mine said the fan clutch was stiff. Truck has coil spacer lift and the cv axles boots have been torn for some time. I was hearing a tack,tack tack noise that I thought was coming from cv's. I would only hear it from 45 to 55 mph. I had the same mechanic friend check that. He said there was no heat on anywhere on the cv's after 60 mile drive. This sound was definitely coming from front end but difficult to tell where being that it only occurred at the certain speeds. This sound definitely was not the common "tick" "tick" you would hear from valves. I've heard that on a different truck. When trying to pass someone when at 3500-4000 rpm one of the belts would slip the are in great shape and had good tension on them. I'm starting to think the possibility of a main bearing on the crank went out. If this is the case I would think there would be metal shavings in the oil, drained today very clean and no signs of metal. (held magnet in flowing stream and ran magnet through drain pan numerous times) besides if it is a bad main bearing, I still am wondering why turning the cams would free up the crank intermittinly. Pulled valve covers today and it seemed as if the valve lifters were working normally. Can this be valves? Don't really want to pull the heads if its a bad crank because there's way to many miles on it to rebuild lower end. 244,000 miles. Hope this can paint a clearer picture. I know the no spark/no gas very well could be the crankshaft positioning sensor. But I need to figure the crank binding problem before I get to the no gas/no spark issue. And I'm guessing that a main bearing going out would affect the crankshaft positioning sensor.

hross14

based on what you told me i am going to say the motor needs a rebuild. These motors have a very stout lower end so a rebuild is not out of the questions unless something is really messed up in there.

I recommend you pull the motor and break it down. It will give you an opportunity to see how the thing is put together and etc......

Good luck--Henry

hross14

where are you located? Might be interested in your defunct engine.....

swampfox

Have you checked to see if the starter might be engaged ? I have heard of starters locking up engines in domestic cars . I passed on a mopar cop car with interceptor engine because it was locked up, and that was what the owner found to be the problem.

fishingorwishing

Do you think it is worth it to rebuild lower end on a motor with 244,000 miles. been told you don't get that many miles out of rebuilt top to bottom motors unless you take to super expensive highly qualified machine shop. Then is it just better to get different motor? Have to get this truck up and running so Its coming down to rebuild time or new motor I think haven't completely given up though. Live in the Northwest USA any dependable machine shops that anyone know of?

hross14

my rebuild cost me $4k--buts it smooth and has a couple goodies in it....

Definetly take it to a qualified shop because you get what you pay for. And who told you rebuilt motors dont get as many miles as new ones? Thats not true--especially because as the motor ages it STRESS RELIEVES itself--then when the machinist does his thing he has a stable block and etc....i.e. less likely to have cylinders go out of round and hold torque values better--less warping...etc......

fishingorwishing

I meant if you rebuild it yourself. Like I said I haven't given up completly, it just doesn't make since if the something on the crank was messed up, why turning the cams would free the crank up. Just seems like its is valves or the possibility of something in the cylinders. I did lose the upper bolt to the intake support an unfortunately the spark plugs were out at the time. So the is a possibility there is a bolt in there but unlikely. I ran a magnet in all cylinders didn't feel or see anything. Still possible though. I'm still going to pull the heads though and check it out any ideas on how to get those stubborn exhaust bolts off. Sprayed with pennatrant spray real good. Got 5 free but rounded the head on one and its one on the y pipe connection, the frame is in the way.

TheDurk

The wacky thing is why turning the cam makes any difference to the crank or pistons. If if a bolt dropped in, or a piece of a valve fell through, then that might keep the crank from turning past TDC on that cylinder unless the valves were closed. You essentially turn a non-interference engine into an interference engine. Something in a cylinder is the only thing that makes any sense to me. How about renting or borrowing a borescope?

Thing is, once you closed the valves on the one cylinder with an object and get past it once, the crank should be then be free to rotate as long as you kept the cam at that spot. Doesn't sound like that is the case.

fishingorwishing

have looked into renting a boroscope but came to a lose. ya its really weird why the camshafts would do anything if it was a issue with the crank. I got the valve covers off, spun the cams to where all the valves were closed the crank was still completly bound up. but I guess if a valve let lose from its retainer it wouldn't make any difference where the cams were. What is confusing to is that all on here are saying its a non interference engine and I have had 2 mechanics who own there own shop who I know have been through these motors swear up and down that this is a interference motor. Not trying to discredit anyone I have not been through this motor so I don't know. Guess the only real way of knowing if it is valves or something in the cylinder is pulling the heads but dammit the camshaft bolts are on there good and so are the exhaust bolts. Trust me I'm dying to know and I will let you guys know.

BigBallsMcFalls

stop talking to the mechanics who swear this is an interference engine, because they are morons.



you are looking at taking that motor apart, or dropping in a different one

TheDurk

That's a little harsh, but it is safe to say they don't know the 5VZE-FE and you would be better off with someone who does. Many mechanics will grab the Gates Catalog, which has (incorrectly) listed it as interference since the beginning, and they still have it that way on-line on the .pdf catalog (the big one--they fixed the Import catalog). I just looked. There is NO DOUBT on this point, however. It IS non-interference.

BigBallsMcFalls

harsh...sure I guess so...yes.

this info can be looked up on google.

do NOT let any mechanic touch your toy's most important bits if they do not have access to techinfo.toyota.com

a good mechanic will say 'I don't know the answer' if they really don't know

a knob will be the one standing behind 'guesswork'

fishingorwishing

Like I said I was not trying to offend anyones knowledge. I admit I don't know. I don't claim to be a mechanic. I do know one thing from what everone is telling me it still doesn't make since why turning the cams would do anything if it is a non interference motor or if there was anything wrong with the crank. J Mean whille my truck is still not running. SO like I said the only way of finding things out is pulling it apart. Still haven't had a chance to pull the heads stuff came up. But I've determined I'm not going to take it any further than the heads there just to much room for error past there. And I don't have years of experience or formal training on rebuilding a bottm end. I do know one thing this is a complicated motor and they pumped all they could between performance and fuel efficieny out of this motor and if you don't believe me just start tearing into one. Once again does anyone know of a compitent machine shop that works on these motors in/or around the Portland, OR area? or possibly a source for a new motor?